"Bits & Pieces" - Commentary by Tony Seton

Bits & Pieces

Bits and pieces from this reporter’s notebook.

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....Let’s just hope they want to appear thorough, but the jury in the older sniper case went home for the weekend after four hours of deliberation. It’s a bit disconcerting that they asked the judge to listen to tapes of the 911 calls; they shouldn’t need to do anything but vote. The court couldn’t find a tape recorder before the jury went home. They’ll start anew on Monday.

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....Jacko the Whacko is back in the news, as if he ever left. Actually, it’s the father of the Jackson Five, telling the BBC in an interview that he never beat his most famous son. Oh, yeah, well he whipped him a whole bunch of times with a belt and a switch, but beating, it would have had to have been with a stick. The son says he was beaten.

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....A guy who could have used a stick was a golfer in Georgia who, retrieving a ball in the rough, gotten bitten by a rattlesnake. In the head no less. According to doctors, he was bitten twice and the poison got into him so fast he was knocked unconscious for three days. The man says he thought the snake was 6½ to 7 feet long, and if that was the case, he’s lucky to have woken up at all.

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....After all that hoohah about the economy taking off like a rocket, a series of sobering statistics have arrived more quietly. A record trade deficit and record filings of personal bankruptcies, for example, along with falling retail sales and a spike in wholesale prices. And a spate of missing cheerleaders.

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....John Kerry announced that he will not accept public funding for his campaign. The announcement follows the same from Howard Dean a week ago. They don’t want to be outspent by The Bush Boy, who has already raised a hunnert million for his campaign. Money is important, but many times winners and losers wind up spending about the same amount. Maybe if they offered a more sterling candidacy....

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....Finally, it’s gotta show up on menus and in speciality stores catering to the self-indulgent, a new cheese. It’s from Mauritania and is made from camel’s milk. The folks in this area could use a cash crop; they’re so poor they can’t afford the health regulations that are requisite to selling in Europe and the United States.

And that’s SetonnoteS...I’m Tony Seton.